USE Network launch I UAV Works VALAQ l Cable harnesses l USVs insight l Xponential 2020 update l MARIN AUV l Suter Industries TOA 288 l Vitirover l AI systems l Vtrus ABI

97 Vtrus Autonomy Brain Implant | Digest It also sends these commands to the aforementioned Vtrus Universe software and the GUI, potentially to be forwarded to the end-user’s own GCS computer and software interface. The microcontroller or Pixhawk will also receive vehicle-specific information to correct the pathing and movements for the dynamics of the UAV or UGV body, before outputting the final commands to the motors (be they wheel or propeller drivers). Vehicle integration When integrating the ABI onto a vehicle body, the first thing Sanchez recommends is to consider the power input. “We’ve designed the ABI to accept 12- 17 V DC, so depending on the vehicle’s power system or onboard battery, it will have to provide voltage in that range from its power pack or through a power converter module to the ABI unit,” he says. For mounting onto ground vehicle or multi-copter frames, a number of threaded mounting holes are available around the hull, including six M3, 0.5 mm inserts on the underside. Other mounting points are available on the ABI’s other sides, away from the cooling vents on the top and right sides so that these are not blocked off. A 10-pin, eight-channel PWM output connects directly to the dedicated onboard flight controller from the bottom of the ABI’s rear face, with further channels available via the adjacent 15-channel I/O port. Sanchez says, “There are also several additional debugging ports, including a full-size HDMI output port and integrated Bluetooth and wi-fi receivers. The ABI can essentially be used like a mini desktop computer once it’s connected to a monitor, mouse and keyboard, to enable debugging and vehicle set-up.” Any size of geared motor with any compatible ESC or other motor controller can be used for UGV wheel control. While wheel encoders are not required, they can be added as an extra fusing channel if desired. For UAVs, the company recommends airframes and motors sized for 10 in (25.4 cm) propellers, as well as the use of prop guards or brackets for safety against slight impacts, and care during mounting to ensure that downward- facing cameras can see the ground. “For UGV applications we have tested the ABI on vehicles as small as the iRobot Create 2, which is based on the smallest of the company’s Roomba systems, but the ABI can of course be mounted on smaller or larger vehicles than these,” Williams says. Vtrus also reports that it is testing the ABI on a vehicle about the size of a shopping trolley, which belongs to an undisclosed customer in indoor logistics. “This particular customer’s engineers have chosen to use our system with Mecanum-style wheels, which are compatible with the ABI but required some minor customising on the motor control side,” Sanchez says. “And we expect future iterations of the ABI to be much smaller and lighter, opening the door to micro-sized indoor UAVs and other, newer kinds of vehicles suited to indoor operations and other GNSS-denied applications.” Unmanned Systems Technology | June/July 2020 Dimensions: 20 x 15 x 6 cm Weight: 777 g Power consumption: 85 W Power supply: 12-17 V DC Visual object detection range: up to 5 m Laser object detection range: up to 40 m Onboard storage: 32 Gbytes Some key suppliers IMU: Bosch Laser depth sensor: Orbbec Autopilot: Pixhawk GPU: Nvidia Microcontroller: Teensy Operating system: ROS Specifications UAVs and UGVs of varying sizes and weights can integrate the ABI – one customer has built this trolley-sized logistics robot with Mecanum-style wheels